Radicals in Their Midst

When three of the six suspects arrested in a terrorist plot on Fort Dix were found to be former congregants of a Staten Island mosque, it sent the Albanian community here reeling with feelings of betrayal and shock. This borough has a very large and settled Albanian Muslim community that predates the conflict in Kosovo and the influx of Bosnian refugees to America. Now their security in their adopted homeland is threatened by this latest discovery of radicals in their midst. There may be a positive side to this development if it forces the silent majority of devout Muslims to recognize the fanatics that are destroying the lives they've built here.

Imam Zurkani Vardari of the Albanian Islamic Center in Tompkinsville, where the Duka brothers, Drtan, Eljvir, and Shain, were once congregants, condemned the alleged plot. In an interview with Advance reporters, he said, "Many of us remember Fort Dix as a shelter for Albanian victims of a Serbian regime. Many of us volunteered to go there ourselves. The people there provided a sanctuary for many of our refugees, and for this we hold them in high regard."

The Duka brothers worshipped at the center for several years before moving to southern New Jersey. The news of their arrest was a shock to those who remembered them as good, faithful Muslims. Now they speak of them in embarrassment, shame, and horror.

This is the second recent blow to the reputation of the Staten Island Muslim community. Police Commissioner Kelly came to the Albanian Islamic Center in March as part of a program planned for the eve of the birthday of the prophet Muhammed. The community affairs program included a question-and-answer session which involved the sentencing of a former Staten Island resident, Matin Siraj, 19, in the plot to blow up the Herald Square subway station. Many Muslims believe that the two men involved were entrapped by a police informant who was integral to the plot.

Mr. Kelly defended the use of informants as a traditional investigative tool. The issue of entrapment was also raised initially in the case of the six Fort Dix suspects but from what I read of the case, it seems like, dare I say it, a slam dunk.

A friend of mine who's lived next door to a family of Albanian Muslims for decades expressed some concerns about the new owners of their huge home, who are planning to convert the home to some kind of school. There has been a noticeable change in the new residents pouring to the island, who are more inclined to wear Islamic garb than the Americanized Albanians who've assimilated like other immigrants.

My own Albanian neighbors were here before I moved to Staten Island 28 years ago, and they've established numerous local businesses. They sent their children to the same parochial school my children attended, and while the older women wore head scarves, the younger women do not and are as liberated as most Western women. Only their names distinguish the Albanians from other Staten Islanders.

Until recently, the Albanian Muslim community in Staten Island has always been regarded in an extremely positive light, but the possibility that radical Islamists have made inroads here is frightening not only to the Islanders but to the Albanians who fear reprisals. This is highly unlikely when you consider the high toll that Staten Island took on September 11 and the restraint of residents here who actually went out of their way to reassure these neighbors of their friendship.

Nevertheless, the moderate Muslims are the key to reestablishing the reputation of Islam as the religion of peace. I received an e-mail from a friend with an unattributed quote that read, "Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence."

But is that truly the case, or is their silence a myth? Taxpayer-funded PBS pulled a documentary called "Islam vs. Islamism," saying that it paints Muslims in a bad light. Why? This documentary is about the many courageous anti-Islamist Muslims in Europe, Canada, and America. They are facing enormous challenges in attacking the theo-totalitarian ideology known as Islamism. These moderates are being threatened with death, bankrupted, and ostracized. The documentary offers practical steps in how we can empower these moderates. Why is it we don't hear more about them?